Thanksgiving: The Secret to Contentment

“The cure for discontentment is gratitude.” Have you ever heard that? It’s stuck in my mind ever since someone shared that advice with me. Maybe that’s because I struggle with discontentment. Do you? It’s so easy to wish and to envy and to want. The devil blinds us to what we have and makes us crave all the things we don’t. My sinful nature is never content. Even on Thanksgiving! I want to be content, but how?

The apostle Paul found the answer. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). The cure for discontentment is gratitude. Try it! Paul did. Gratitude for God’s grace led him to write this even from prison: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11-12). The cure for discontentment is gratitude. He had Jesus. What more did he need? May God bless you with contentment as you give him thanks today and every day for his gifts to you in Christ Jesus.